Week 1- Crime in Context PDF

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Summary

Introduction to criminal law module notes....

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Cycle 1: Crime in Context ILOs 

To consider our own preconceptions of the criminal law

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To have a better insight into the way criminal law is reported

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To start to learn how to critically evaluate the law and how it is portrayed in the media

Required Reading

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Jewkes chapter 2 ‘The Construction of Crime News: News Values for a New Millennium’ in Media & Crime (SAGE 2004) – this has been uploaded on to ELE. (22 pages) Wardle 'It Could Happen to You': The Move Towards “Personal” and “Societal” Narratives in Newspaper Coverage of Child Murder, 1930–2000’ (2006) Journalism Studies 515 (20 pages)

1. What is the primary purpose of the criminal justice system? Purpose is to deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent.

2. Why do you think people like crime news and other forms of true crime? People like it because the ‘human interest’ angle of a crime story comes into play, with an emphasis on tragedy, sentimentality and so on). It appeals to a female readership, while others sensationalize crime news, emphasizing sex and sleaze. Personal factors, such as live accounts from victims make people more aware of it because they could have been the subject of the crime themselves. Crime, negativity, and novelty all appeal to the public when it comes to any crime news, and thus makes it more intriguing.

3. Is the news media’s primary purpose to reflect reality? Give examples for your answer The primary purpose is to get people to read, which means making a good slogan and a captivating threshold. The reality of news events is often exaggerated because it is told from different accounts and a range of sources. News reporting is marked by brevity in order that it should not strain the attention span of the audience. So, the range of possible meanings inherent in the story must be restricted and news reporters want the audience to come to a consensual conclusion.

4. Clare Wardle argues that news reporting has shifted to a greater focus on ‘it can happen to you’. What do you think is the main repercussion for this in terms of people’s attitudes and responses to criminal law? The personal narrative structures around the experience of grieving family members especially meant readers would identify with the trauma and it created the belief that ‘it could happen to you’. The move towards personalisation adds newsworthiness. The

press uses ‘‘signal crimes’’ to move explanations for deviance from the individual level to the societal, influencing the passage of knee-jerk laws. Franklin and Lavery have effectively described as ‘‘legislation by tabloid’’ (1989, p. 26).

5. Who is the most important actor in the criminal justice process, the defendant, the victim, the judge, or the jury? Why? The defendant, if a murderer or paedophile, would be important as they would pose a ‘threat’ to the community so people would react and thus the story would be sensationalised and lead to public societal cases on the news, new legislation and justice achieved. However, if the case is complex and ambiguous then the evenhandedness of the judge would be important in the press, especially if it results in the favourable outcome of the wider public, as it makes them feel safer and relieves fears which stirred up moral panic in the first place. 6. Changes in focus of the crime over time? Depends on the context, i.e. in the 1990s, the effects on the victim and their family was considered newsworthy. The focus was on emotive drama rather than attempts to explain the background and motivations of the offenders which were emphasised in the two earlier decades. From 1930s, personal narratives of offenders fell from 68% to 21% in the 1990s, and of victims increased from 19% to 71%. The move away from ‘‘institutional’’ narratives to ‘‘personal’’ ones is a reflection of this cultural shift, which has elevated the experience of the individual, in order for them to tell their story ‘‘in their own words’’ Deepening your understanding Being able to critically evaluate the law is a critical skill that you need to learn for your law degree. As you start to learn how to do this, the first thing you should acknowledge are your own biases and assumptions and how they change over time. 1.

What do you think is the most serious crime? Why? Crimes relating to a mental disorder, as these are ‘repeat defenders’ and thus meaning it can happen again if not stopped. 2. What mediums (TV programmes, documentaries, podcasts, books etc) have you engaged with in the past 6 months have contained crimes. What is your perception of the criminal law as a result of these mediums? Jeffrey Epstein documentary, perception that in America it is not well monitored especially in the 90s, when an individual is wealthy and has money so it is hard to use the law to control them. 3. What do you think is the primary purpose of criminal law? Why? To prevent and deal with crime and create a safe community for the public. 4. What, if any, do you think your biases are when it comes to considering criminal law? Perhaps that it is too sensationalised, in comparison to other cases that could be published in the media, but the fact that physical scandals appeal to the public naturally, places the importance of criminal cases above others. Notes from Podcast 

Criminal justice has always been inherently entertaining. Entertaining news sells, crime news attracts consumers.

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Influence of crime news on public attitudes > media supposed to reflect reality? However, it has to be selective in what it reports, so it reports based on the decision what it considers ‘newsworthy’. Relaxation of media regulation results in greater emphasis on enticing an audience, focus on selling news tries to appeal to an audience (market driven). Selection is shaped by a broadly political and ideological attitude at the time. Crime news distorts the reality of criminal law and the justice process, with fewer people attending the trial, this distortion becomes an important component in public attitudes. CSI effect - the exaggerated portrayal of forensic science on crime television Crime news helps facilitate an emotional response in the reader....